FORT HOOD, Texas — To get the latest information and guidance for running a logistics company, young officers and noncommissioned officers must pore over training manuals, field manuals, published Department of the Army guides, and Websites…or they could check out the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Command Maintenance Evaluation and Training Team here.

Upon entering the COMET team building, the similarity to the layout and that of a company headquarters is startling.

Shirley Evans, the COMET team chief, has an office where you would normally find a company commander.

According to Evans, the COMET Team's mission is to train, sustain, transform, and reconstitute conventional forces in order to provide a sustained flow of relevant and ready land power to support Combatant Commanders' requirements.

“COMET provides a technically proficient team to assess and evaluate Soldiers in the commands maintenance and supply postures,” said Evans.

Everything in the building is labeled, and every label goes into exhaustive detail, not unlike a tutorial for a software program.

The list of available training is far too large to put into publication, but Evans said, “We focus on making sure that new commanders are familiar with their hand receipts; component listings; updated supply catalogs, technical bulletins and technical manuals for the property on the hand receipt and instructions on how to read the [modification table of organization and equipment].”

Different sections within the COMET company area focus on different types of training.
Vernon Gales, a logistics analyst with the COMET team, said, the armament section can help in the area of weapons maintenance readiness by reinforcing commonly overlooked procedures and protocol.

Gales said one of the most common problems facing armorers is conducting a component based inventory, which can lead to an expensive and preventable lesson.
Some of the other major focus areas are supply, motor pool, test measurement and diagnostic equipment, and supply support area.

Michelle Aylesworth, a logistics analyst in the supply section stressed the importance of Army Records Information Management System training, “It is AKO driven and is fairly easy to use; as long as [the users] have established the correct office symbol.

“Everyone that generates anything that should be filed should be utilizing ARIMS.”
Evans said the training can be conducted as professional development for officers and NCOs, or just as a normal training session.

Evans said, “All of our training is open-seating, first come first serve basis.
“If our training calendar does not meet their schedule, we will schedule special training to meet their units' [operational tempo].”

Evans added the most important part of their training, and the reason the COMET team’s building is designed like a model company is for Soldiers to know exactly what “right looks like.”

To schedule training, Fort Hood units can contact the COMET team at 254-287-9217.

Michelle Alyesworth, a logistics analyst with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Command Maintenance Evaluation and Training Team, conducts a class on the Army Records Information Management System here Oct. 21. Students in the class came from all over Fort Hood, from the 13th SC(E) to the 1st Cavalry Division.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Joel F. Gibson, 13th SC(E) public affairs)

Eloy Vera, a logistics analyst with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Command Maintenance Evaluation and Training Team, conducts a class on the Army Records Information Management System here Oct. 21. The ARIMS class is just one of many offered by the COMET team. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Joel F. Gibson, 13th SC(E) public affairs)